Judge Will Review Comey Memos Himself Before Deciding If They Can Be Made Public

Source: Talking Points Memo

By Tierney Sneed | January 12, 2018 10:30 am

A federal judge in Washington on Thursday ordered the government to turn over for his review behind closed doors the so-called Comey memos, that various outlets are suing the Justice Department to release.

The DOJ has said releasing the memos would undermine the ongoing federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. It had previously asked the judge, James E. Boasberg, to review an affidavit from an FBI employee explaining why releasing the memos is an issue for the probe.

Boasberg said on Thursday that he would review that declaration, as well as “all withheld documents,” in camera — meaning within his chambers – and without the other side in the case seeing them. He gave the DOJ until Jan. 18 to turn the documents over.

CNN, USA Today, and other journalists, as well as the conservative group Judicial Watch, sued the Justice Department for allegedly violating the Freedom of Information Act in withholding the memos. The memos were written by former FBI Director James Comey and are accounts of meetings with Trump where Comey claims the President pressured him to drop his investigation into former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.

CREW was started by Sloan in 2003 to undertake a job few seemed to be doing in Washington : using the legal system and media to expose, deter and litigate legal and ethical wrongdoing by members of Congress. In the past three years the nonprofit group has pursued legal actions against 26 members of Congress-including a couple of Democrats-resulting in four resignations (all Republicans). Eleven of those members who have been pursued by CREW are now under federal investigation and eight whom CREW investigated lost their seats in the midterm elections.

Ironically, it was the success of the ultraconservative Judicial Watch-famous for its dogged pursuit of President Clinton over his alleged sexual harassment of Paula Jones-that provided the impetus for CREW's beginning. A litigator Sloan knew, Norman Eisen, was seeking someone to start a group that would provide a balance to such right-wing legal watchdogs.

"We were looking for somebody smart enough and tough enough to single-handedly take on that mission," says Eisen. "And Melanie was the one." Judicial Watch was to be her model, with a slight, though significant, difference: She would focus on wrongdoing in the public sphere, rather than in the private lives of politicians.

5. That's great, thanks. Nice to know they're getting some back.

3. This should be made public, no excuses...

Nothing is sacred to the American public...we deserve to know how our government is working and any attempts to prevent disclosure is a simple effort to hide the truth, in that these guys are simply covering their A** and screw anything else...

And what's ironic about this is that tRUMP claimed that he would be the most transparent president ever...

9. Mueller also has the set

Mr. Comey said he turned over his memos to the Justice Department special counsel, Mr. Mueller, the first public suggestion that the special counsel would investigate Mr. Trump’s firing of Mr. Comey.

Some in Congress have suggested that Mr. Trump tried to obstruct justice by firing Mr. Comey. Mr. Mueller has the authority to investigate obstruction. That is not a guarantee that Mr. Mueller will investigate the president but is a sign that he is reviewing the memos. “I turned them over to Bob Mueller’s investigators,” Mr. Comey said.

Mr. Comey said he began taking notes on his meetings with the president because, from his first interaction with him, during the transition period, he thought Mr. Trump might lie about what was said. He testified that he documented all of his meetings with Mr. Trump because it was so unusual for him to be discussing ongoing investigations, alone, with a sitting president. Mr. Comey had served in senior law enforcement positions under three presidents.

“The combination of factors just wasn’t present with either President Bush or President Obama,” he said.